Electrically-powered turbomachine assemblies

Abstract

An electrically-powered turbine assembly includes a fixed housing; an air compressor including a compressor stator fixed to the housing; a turbine including a turbine stator fixed to the housing; a central shaft supported by the compressor stator and affixed to the turbine stator; an electric motor including an electric motor stator fixed to the central shaft, said electric motor having a rotating shell; an air compressor rotor affixed to the rotating electric motor shell; and a turbine rotor affixed to the rotating electric motor shell. The electrically-powered turbine assembly preferably includes one or more fuel cells as an electric power source. The electrically-powered turbine assembly may be used to power an aircraft.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . An electrically-powered turbomachine assembly comprising:
 a fixed housing;   an air compressor including one or more compressor rotors, and one or more compressor stators, where one or more of the compressor stators are fixed to the housing;   a turbine including one or more turbine rotors, and one or more turbine stators, where one or more of the turbine stators are fixed to the housing;   a central shaft supported at least in part by the one or more compressor stators and the one or more turbine stators; and   one or more electric motors including electric motor stators and electric motor rotors.   
     
     
         2 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more fuel cells arranged on an outside of the housing. 
     
     
         3 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the central shaft comprises a rotatable shaft, and the one or more compressor rotors, the one or more turbine rotors and the one or more electric motor rotors are fixed to rotate with the shaft. 
     
     
         4 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more electric motor stators are fixed to and arranged on a non-rotating shaft, and the air compressor and the turbine rotors are fixed to rotate with the electric motor rotors around the one or more electric motor stators. 
     
     
         5 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more electric motors are also configured to act as electrical generators. 
     
     
         6 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the air compressor and the turbine respectively include one or more counter-rotating rotors. 
     
     
         7 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the non-rotating shaft is configured as a conduit for fluid transfer and/or electrical power. 
     
     
         8 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more compressor stators are configured for carrying an electric current, and have a passage configured to accommodate an electrical conduit within the one or more stators, or are formed of an electrically conductive material configured to carry an electrical current. 
     
     
         9 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more compressor stators have a passage configured to carry a fluid, wherein the fluid optionally comprises a thermal transfer fluid for cooling the one or more motor stators and/or for cooling air as the air is moved through the air compressor, and optionally wherein the one or more compressor stators include internal fluidics channels configured to optimize heat exchange. 
     
     
         10 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more fuel cells comprise hydrogen fuel cells and the fluid comprises hydrogen and further wherein the hydrogen flowing through the conduit optionally is in liquid form and is configured to receive heat from the assembly to change from liquid form to gas form for use by one or more fuel cells. 
     
     
         11 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the fluid acts as a lubricant, or as a fluid dynamic bearing. 
     
     
         12 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the central shaft comprises a segmented shaft, wherein the shaft segments are mechanically coupled to one another. 
     
     
         13 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 2 , wherein one or more fuel cells are arranged radially on an outside of the housing, and wherein an output from the compressor optionally is coupled to an intake of the one or more fuel cells cathodes, wherein an exhaust from the one or more fuel cells optionally is coupled to an anode tail oxidizer, and wherein an inlet manifold for the turbine optionally is configured to contain a catalytic mesh for the anode tail oxidizer. 
     
     
         14 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the fixed housing includes an annular manifold having an inlet configured to capture a flow of air from the air compressor, and wherein the annular manifold optionally has an outlet configured to deliver air to a cathode side of the one or more fuel cells. 
     
     
         15 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 2 , wherein an anode exhaust from the one or more fuel cells is passed to the turbine. 
     
     
         16 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more electric motors include fins configured to be cooled by airflow from the compressor. 
     
     
         17 . The electrically-powered turbomachine assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more inverters electrically connected to the electric motor, wherein the one or more inverters include cooling fins extending into the housing and into the cooling airflow from the compressor. 
     
     
         18 . A vehicle propulsion system utilizing the electrically-powered turbomachine assembly as claimed in  claim 1  to provide thrust, electrical power and/or reactant conditioning 
     
     
         19 . The vehicle propulsion system of  claim 18 , wherein the electrically-powered turbomachine assembly includes one or more fuel cells as an electric power source. 
     
     
         20 . The vehicle propulsion system of  claim 19 , wherein the vehicle comprises an airplane.